Seat cover fastening system

Abstract

An extruded, generally J-shaped plastic welt or trim strip adapted to be sewn to a seat cover has an inverted lip portion at the tip of its short leg. The welt strip is adapted to cover both sides of a vertical, downwardly extending peripheral flange on a metal seat pan. The welt strip is retained against removal from the seat pan by the engagement of its inverted lip portion with a plurality of upwardly and inwardly directed tabs which are struck out of the material of the flange.

I claim as my invention: 
     
       1. A seat cover fastening system comprising: a formed seat pan having an inverted U-shaped peripheral edge portion, the outer vertical leg of said edge portion having a plurality of inwardly and upwardly directed tabs struck out of its surface at spaced locations around said edge portion which are located above the bottom of said vertical leg; seat cover material attached at its edges to a resilient trim strip having a generally J-shaped configuration and including an outer leg which is long and an inner leg which is short, the inner leg having a lip portion formed at its upper end which extends downwardly and outwardly toward said outer leg, said seat cover material being attached to said outer leg and extending upwardly therefrom, and said resilient trim strip covering the lower portion of said outer vertical leg so that its inner leg extends above said tabs and said lip portion extends downwardly toward the space between said tabs and said outer vertical leg so as to be interlocked therewith.   
     
     
       2. A seat cover fastening system according to claim 1 wherein the distance between the lower edge of said lip portion and the bottom inside surface of the trim strip is less than the distance between the top edges of said tabs and the bottom edges of the outer vertical leg of the seat pan. 
     
     
       3. A seat cover fastening system according to claim 2 wherein the lower edge of said lip portion is horizontally spaced from said inner leg. 
     
     
       4. A seat cover fastening system according to claim 3 wherein said lip portion is horizontally spaced from said inner leg by a distance generally equal to the thickness of said tabs. 
     
     
       5. A seat cover fastening system according to claim 2 wherein the lower edge of said lip portion and the upper edge of said tabs have complementary angled surfaces which are adapted to engage one another as the outer and inner legs of the trim strip are squeezed toward each other and the trim strip is forced upwardly relative to said outer vertical leg during assembly of said trim strip to said seat pan, said complementary angled surfaces serving to facilitate the camming of said edges over one another to permit said lower edge of said lip portion to be interlocked behind said tabs. 
     
     
       6. A seat cover fastening system according to claim 1 wherein the inverted U-shaped peripheral edge portion of said seat pan includes an inner vertical leg which is horizontally spaced from said tabs by a distance which is less than the maximum horizontal distance between any portion of the inner leg of said trim strip and any portion of the lip portion, whereby said lip portion will be compressed toward said inner leg as said trim strip is forced upwardly until said lip portion extends above said tabs, said tabs and inner vertical leg cooperating with each other and with said lip portion to retain said lip portion behind said tabs and prevent the disassembly of said trim strip from said seat pan.